Transcript

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>> Carlos Ghosn has declared his innocence. On Tuesday, the ousted Nissan chief made a first public appearance since his November arrest. He told a Tokyo court he was quote, unfairly detained based on meritless and unsubstantiated accusations and that he had properly reported his compensation from Nissan. Ghosn taken in on the 19th of November has been formally charged with misreporting his income.

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Since then, he's been rearrested twice on further charges. Reuters' Malcolm Foster is in Tokyo.>> A presiding judge said that he was, Ghosn was considered a flight risk and that if he was released he might hide some of the evidence. So that was the main reason they were keeping in detention.

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This is a very typical practice in Japan to keep suspects in detention for long periods. Japanese law allows suspects to be held for 23 days without charges and then even after that, they can be held up until and through the trial. Which happens quite frequently.>> Nissan quickly shot back at Ghosn's claims.

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The company said it had uncovered substantial evidence of misconduct, after an informant prompted an investigation. But at a separate news conference, Ghosn's lawyer said the company had agreed to take on his personal foreign exchange contracts. They also expressed concern over how long he might be held.>>

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>> I'm afraid it will take at least six months until the first trial takes place.>> The case has rattled Nissan's alliance with Renault. Ghosn remains chairman and CEO at the French automaker. He'd been pushing for a deeper tie up with Nissan at the French government's urging. The idea had provoked opposition within the Japanese firm.